We are speaking today about Yirat Shamayim. What does Hashem want from a person? You know, what do you want from a person? What does God want from you? He wants Yirat Shamayim. That's what He wants. If somebody came to you in Italian and asked, “Rabbi, what does Hashem want from me?” Very simple: two words, Yirat Shamayim. That's what He wants from you. That's it. He wants Yirat Shamayim.
Now, what is that? It says, “Everything is from Shamayim (Heaven) except Yirat Shamayim.” That means everything that's going to come to a person is going to come no matter what. That's going to happen. But how are you going to react to whatever happens to you? That is based upon you. That is your Yirat Shamayim. What does Yirat Shamayim even mean? Yirat Shamayim comes from the lashon (language) of Re'eh. Re'eh is Yir'ah. Yir'ah, the shoresh, the root word, the word of Yir'ah is Re'eh, is to see. What are you seeing? You tell the guy, “What are you seeing?” You're seeing Shamayim. You're seeing Hashem's hand. That's what you're seeing. That's Yirat Shamayim. Yirat Shamayim is when you see Hashem's hand. And what does that mean? That means you see Hashem is all over. Hashem is all over. And therefore, if someone's nearby, if you see Hashem is next to you, you'll always be careful. You'll always be careful to do what's right.
One time, we were in yeshiva, and I remember the Rabbi came over to us and said, “I'd like to tell you a story about what happened many, many years ago.” There was a guy who wanted the Yirat Shamayim of the Rambam. He wanted to feel what it was like, the Yirat Shamayim of the Rambam. So he started fasting, he started praying, and then they told him in a dream, “Tomorrow, you're going to get the Yirat Shamayim of the Rambam.” He said, “The next day, I woke up feeling the Yirat Shamayim of the Rambam.” He said, “I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't take it. I can't take it. I can't take it.” What happened? He says, “It was so real. Hashem was so real. Hashem is right there. It's so real. It's not a fake. Hashem is so real. He's right there. He knows what you're thinking. He knows what you're thinking.”
You know your mind—He knows what you're thinking. Even in your mind, you're like, “Oh yeah, Hashem's hearing what I'm thinking. Oh my goodness, I got to make sure I'm thinking the right thoughts. I got to be thinking the right thoughts.” That's why I say, when a person is waiting to pay for something, in the supermarket, buying milk or getting a coffee, doing whatever he's doing, he has to think in his mind, as he's waiting, that you love Hashem. Just thinking about it, you're getting a mitzvah (commandment), because Hashem hears and sees what you're thinking. That's what it means. Hashem is there with you every single step of the way, and He understands exactly what you're thinking.
And therefore, Rabotai (my masters), with all the Torah and the mitzvot that a person has, that's the inner chamber, that's the inner key. After Olam Haba (the World to Come), after 120, all the Torah and the mitzvot that a person has—he has an inner key. That's the inner key. That's the inside. You ever go to a bank? You have the vault, and you have somebody opening up the outside door, and then there's the inside door, the inside vault, where it's like, “Wow, everything is there”—Torah and mitzvot, everything like that. And the Rabbis explained to us that the inner key is the Torah and mitzvot. The outer key is Yirat Shamayim. If you don't have Yirat Shamayim, you can't get in. So the guy has so much Torah and mitzvot; he did tzedakah (charity), he did everything. So now he wants to claim all his Torah and mitzvot. What about Yirat Shamayim? Did you have it? You have Yirat Shamayim? If you don't have Yirat Shamayim, come in. You have to have it in your life. What is it? Hashem is watching you. Don't think Hashem is not watching you. Hashem is watching you.
One time, in Masechet Berachot, Kaf Chet Amud Bet (28b), it says that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was passing away. They said, “Rabbi, give us a beracha (blessing).” He was on his deathbed. “Rabbi, give us a beracha.” You know what his beracha was? This is the beracha that he gave. He was one of the biggest Rabbis we ever had. He said, “Your beracha is that you should have Yirat Shamayim like you fear people. Fear God like you fear people.” They said, “Rabbi, come on, Rabbi. Rabbi, that's the beracha? You give us, ‘Fear God like you fear people’?” He said, “Halevai (if only), if you just knew how many times a person says, ‘What are the people going to think of me?’ before they do A, B, and C, that would be like—wow.”
You see people. The guy will never do something. Imagine that right now he sees his father. He's about to—I don't know, whatever he's about to do, let's say he's about to eat non-kosher. And, you know, he sees everybody, the whole community is looking at him. The whole community is looking at him. “Yo, are you going to go and eat non-kosher in front of everybody?” No way. There's no way. You'll never do it. “What do you mean? But I desire it so much.” You'll never do it, because you believe that the people are there. Like Jacob was saying, you have Yosef HaTzadik. What happened to Yosef HaTzadik? He envisioned his father being there by Eishet Potiphar. Yirat Shamayim is a real thing. What does it mean? It means that Hashem is real. He's really, really there.
You know, when you're learning, nobody can be there. Hashem is there. Hashem is literally right in front of you when you're learning Torah. That's where He is. Where's Hashem? You say, “He's right there. He's there. He's sitting with you.” One time, there was a rabbi, the Brisker Rav. I haven't been in Brisk. Once, the whole yeshiva was learning. One guy didn't have his chavruta that day, and he was just sitting there. He said, “Hashem is not here. My learning partner is not here.” The Brisker Rav said, “Your learning partner is not here?” He said, “You know what the Gemara says? When you're learning, the Shechinah (Divine Presence) is with you. The Shechinah comes down with you. Are you going to let Hashem be alone? Sit and learn. Hashem is with you.” When you're learning Torah, Hashem is there, sitting with you. It's true. He's sitting with you. And when you're eating, Hashem is sitting down and eating with you.
So now, when you know that, you're not going to eat like a glutton. You're not going to eat with your face in the bowl. “What do you mean, Rabbi? I'm starving. I got to eat.” We're not saying, “Don't eat”; eat. But how do you eat? If you know Hashem is watching you, can you eat like that? Oh no. You'll never do it like that, with Hashem watching everything. Hashem is watching even the way you eat. And therefore, you'll eat with dignity, you'll eat with class. You'll eat the— you'll eat the right way. You won't be this. You won't be that. Because that's the truth: Hashem is watching us 24/7.
And sometimes a person says, “Wait, where's all the glory? You know, I'm doing this, I'm giving charity, I'm doing this, but nobody's praising me. Nobody.” Wait, you have to understand something. You understand something? What does that mean? Wait, you have to understand, and you have to be very, very understandable that what? That Hashem is the one watching you always. You could be in the corner. You could be all alone, and there's that.
I remember, I always tell this story. When I was 19 or 20, I remember I booked a flight to Israel, and it was like a stopover. I stopped in Paris, and in Paris I missed it. Literally, I went to pray as a 10 30. It was the 10 30 a.m. flight. I'm not even joking; it was 10:31, and I was there. The plane was there. The lady says, “I'm sorry.” Come on, it's right there. No, no, I was stuck. I said, “Until the next day.” And they paid for one of my hotels that was nearby the airport. And I'm telling you, there was no kosher, there was zero kosher. The only thing I had from the front desk was oranges. You know how you walk in? There was some kind of setup, I don't know what it was. It had oranges. That was the only thing; that was what they had. You walk in, you check in, you have to get an orange. So for 24 hours I'm eating oranges, like the guys say, “You like oranges?” “Yes, yes.” Every time you go get your orange, starving. You know, your metabolism is, uh, you need something, you know what I mean?
But I was saying to myself, “I'm all alone here. I'm literally all alone. They're all going. I was the only one. I'm like, this is scary. It's scary. Are you all going? What's going on over here? I didn't know what was going on. What's going on?” And what I was saying, I'm saying, “Hashem is with me. I could be—” The video says, “You could be all alone, but you're never alone.” Hashem is always with you. Yirat Shamayim.